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Email PageA Vision for the FutureGEORGINA COBURN looks at what the ambitious Six Cities Design Festival will bring to Inverness |
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THE FIRST biennial Six Cities Design Festival programme celebrates the “value of design and creativity in all six of Scotland’s cities” and the national importance of creative industries to the Scottish economy. With global focus on sustainable living, the impact of our carbon footprint and the development of new technology, the festival raises important questions about our developing lifestyles, the importance of design in our built environment and everyday lives. |
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Ranging from “the highly personal to the truly global”, the festival will demonstrate how design can influence and improve our quality of life and acknowledges excellence and innovation in design as a driving force in Scotland’s past, present and future. Providing a vision of how we might live more sustainably and with greater reference to our local culture and environment is one of the region’s greatest challengesAs a nationwide international design festival in Inverness the programme represents a significant shift in attitude both within and outside the Highland capital. As the youngest of Scotland’s cities, Inverness is engaged in the dynamic process of redefining itself. The Festival will no doubt contribute to the debate about the future development of Inverness as a city and raise the question of what are our aspirations and values made visible through design? In the context of the city’s current public art programme and changing cultural landscape, it is exciting to see such a varied programme of exhibitions, talks, tours and workshops that add momentum to the current focus on culture and its value. |
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Sustaining that focus over several years through linked events will contribute positively to the region’s cultural infrastructure and sense of self determination. Linked to both the Year of Highland Culture in 2007 and the Highland Housing Fair in 2009, over 50 events in Inverness will focus on design in business, education and public access highlighting the unique cultural climate of the Highlands and Islands in relation to the theme of “Home environment”. Actively engaging with local business and youth through the Design into Business and Learning programmes, the festival will highlight the region’s potential through local industry and products and the importance of creative imagination. A series of practical workshops for businesses and creative individuals include “Brand Essentials” in association with the Inverness Chamber of Commerce, “Design Your Business Start Up Workshop” and “Get Ready to Sell at Trade Fairs Designer Workshop “presented by the Cultural Enterprise Office. Finding solutions to living are part of any design brief. There is no aspect of life that design does not touch and this is reflected in a programme which will appeal to a wide audience. Whether your interest is in design techniques, fashion, ethics or aesthetics there is something for everyone. A broad range of events will include the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland Convention, “Creative Responsibility, Home; Environment; Community” (Nairn); the 2 day Touchwood Festival celebrating the work of artists, makers and designers in wood (Dingwall); a Design Film Series presented by Eden Court Cinema featuring “Last Year At Marienbad”, “Playtime”, Hiroshima Mon Amour” and the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”. |
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Exhibitions “New, Old, Green” produced by the Museum of Finnish Architecture, “Greenhouse/ Blackhouse – New Housing in the Highlands for the 21st Century”, an exhibition by the new Creative Highlands group showcasing architectural models, fashion, jewellery and glass, and “Claystation” will be housed in the Six Cities Design Festival Centre in a newly transformed space at Castle Wynd. “New, Old and Green” will encourage participation and contain components produced through education workshops with local schoolchildren, whilst “Claystation” is an irresistible opportunity to remodel Inverness in plasticine! Visitors are invited to help create a giant model of their ideal Highland capital. Other events include “Design at IMAG” (Inverness Museum and Art Gallery) which will feature design work from the museum’s collections, “Homeroom” an exhibition of furniture, glass, ceramics and textiles taking inspiration from Highland 2007 and “This One Feels Just Right”, an exhibition focusing on that most taken-for-granted item of furniture, the chair. Works by Maureen Minchin (Ceramics), Angie Lewin (Printmaking) and Arie Vardi (Painting and Jewellery) will be on show at the Castle Gallery, and a new exhibition from the SAC’s Travelling Gallery “Build It and They Will Come” will visit Inverness schools and Falcon Square, and will feature work by artists Cath Campbell, Donna Conlon, Will Duke, Toby Paterson, Susie Wright and Matthew Holding. |
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At the Eastgate Centre a fashion show featuring work by Kirsteen Stewart, Ginger, Judy Clarke, Sandra Murray, Sporran Nation, Coca Couture, Anna MacNeil and Inner Strength will showcase some of the region’s best designers of clothing and accessories. Links |
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BLOGS
16 Mar 2010 | |
09 Mar 2010 | |
19 Jan 2010 |
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March 2010 Editorial |
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